Johalla Projects and ACRE Residency Presents

Once, We Were Giants 

A solo exhibition by Montgomery Kim

February 2 – 6, 2012

Please join us for an opening on THURSDAY, February 2nd, from 7 – 10pm 

Johalla Projects

1821 W. Hubbard Street, Suite 110

Chicago, Il 60622

By Appointment Only 

Once, We Were Giants

In our era of super-technologies and hyper-infrastructures, the gap between body and mind seems to become exponentially smaller and blurred. The link between the physical world around us and ideology seamlessly blend into one another, as one is borne from the other in no discernible order. The niches we establish are formed by ever more calculated measures, which we perceive as extensions of our selves. In so doing, our person- our physical being – not only becomes one with external stimuli, but exists with infinite potential. It is possible now for us to immortalize our selves, not through God, but by becoming gods of our own.

The process for producing these works has been one of collecting and combining distinct visual elements from one overarching theme, and combining them in a collage-like manner. The elements presented in a piece, though visually cohesive, are meant to be brought together in the viewer’s mind in an intuitive manner. The shapes, colors, and objects brought together in these works exist through a kind of dream logic, whereby these elements ebb and flow between being singular parts and being a singular unit.

The primary conceptual concern was a term used by economists to describe excess consumption and over-saturation. This law of diminishing marginal utility was once described to Kim as follows:

“You purchase one whole cake for $5. It is a delicious cake and you are allowed to eat as much as you please. You are not, however, allowed to take any of it home. So you stuff your face with as much cake as possible. After the second or third slice, you will most likely not be enjoying your cake anymore. But you’ve paid for the whole cake and it would seem a waste to not get your money’s worth. What you do not realize is that the $5 dollars you paid is gone, and that there is only one peak point of satisfaction when consuming anything. Anything after this point is either dissatisfying and burdensome, or completely neutralized in its worth.”

Montgomery (Bum Joo) Kim works primarily with wood and pre-made objects. Kim explores themes of intercultural exchange and globalization and their effects on social consciousness. By looking at traditional imagery through the lens of contemporaneity, the objects and scenarios Kim creates are paradoxical attempts at nostalgia; they are memorabilia from a potential past, present or future.

Kim is a sculptor from Mexico City, Mexico. He graduated from The School of the Art Institute in 2011 with a BFA with a focus in Sculpture, for which he was awarded the Edward Ryerson Fellowship award. He is currently based in Chicago, and is the Gallery Assistant and Project Director for THE LAND: Artist Residency Program at the Chicago Urban Art Society.

Find Kim here!